'An unlikely path': Former FAMU tennis player Kamau Murray coaches US Open finalist

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Kamau Murray didn’t attend Florida A&M thinking he'd wind up coaching tennis.

Murray was on FAMU's campus from 1998 until 2004 – four of those years were spent on scholarship with the tennis team. He got his MBA from FAMU’s School of Business and Industry, settled into corporate pharmaceutical work and coached tennis part-time to help children.

For the most part, he was content. That was flipped on its head in 2015, when he decided to quit his job at Novo Nordisk, Inc., and become a full-time coach.

Now 36, Murray is not only a full-time tennis coach, but he’s coaching 24-year-old Sloane Stephens, a rising American star. He’ll be watching closely on Saturday as his student looks to win the U.S. Open in New York.

Murray still calls the career change a risk.

“I definitely did not come to FAMU with the idea of being a tennis coach,” Murray said over the phone.

“I fell in love with the process of transformation young people into great adults. I gave up my corporate job, which SBI trained me for, and took a risk. I was making money in my corporate job. I gave it up to focus on a purpose. This is very fulfilling, to be able to help somebody achieve their dream.”



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